• After WW2, Carl Zeiss at Oberkochen began a new series of numbers, probably at No1000 or 10,000 and as indicated above, these were normally also marked Opton and coated. The Opton mark lasted for most purposes until about 1953 at No1,100,000 but was used for many more years for items sold in the Comecon.
• Zeiss-Ikon Stuttgart West Germany. Serial Number: D72420. With: 1.7x Teleskop. Depth-of-field scale, focus to 1.2 metre. The bracket slides onto the camera.

1. Zeiss Biogon 21mm F2.8 Lens
2. Zeiss-Ikon Nettar 516/2, What Year? | Photo.net Photography ...
3. Hasselblad Flextight X1 And Imacon 848

History of Zeiss Ikon Ikoflex Cameras

My guess is that the camera is a Super Ikonta A Catalog No. 531 having a Zeiss Tessar 75mm f/3.5 lens and a Compur shutter or Synchro-Compur shutter with a coupled rangefinder. It shoots 16 exposures at 4.5x6cm on 120 film. A rarer model had a metal face plate rather than the leather stamped 'Zeiss Ikon'. But this is a guess! Although less Zeiss-Ikon documentation survived WWII than other manufacturers, it’s still simple to date your camera. This is due to the fact that Zeiss-Ikon used a letter code preceding actual serial number of any particular Contax camera. This letter indicates the year that your Contax (and many other prewar Zeiss-Ikon cameras) was produced. What is the View Lens serial number? Classic Zeiss Jena serial numbers: 400,000's 1921-1923 4,000,000's mid 1950's. 1929 shown as the change to Compur Rim set shutters, about serial number 97,091. The Compur Rapid is a rim set shutter., 125,883 1st Contax lens, 1931. 1,890,000 switch to chrome finish, 1936.

Recently I started restoring a vintage Ikoflex TLR camera. Before purchasing the camera I ultimately got, I did some internet research on Ikoflexes. They are not a particularly famous brand, so it was a little harder to get information about them. Fortunately, a lot of great information has been recorded at sites like the camera wiki, Pacific Rim Camera, and Barry Toogood’s TLR Cameras Website. As great as these sites are, there seems to be some minor discrepancies between them in places. Having received some basic training as a historian, I wanted to look over the primary sources. As I started gathering source material and sorting through references to the somewhat confusing Ikoflex model designations, I started taking notes. Rather than just keeping my notes to myself, I thought I would contribute back to the internet by posting them.

The title suggests that this post will contain some sort of narrative history of Ikoflex cameras. But, it doesn’t really. It’s mostly data I grabbed from other sources, organized in a way that makes sense to me. This page is a work in progress, so I will continue to update it as I learn more.

Models

The history of the Ikoflex line of cameras is bisected by World War II. So, there are pre-war cameras, a void when the war was raging, and post-war cameras. The post-war cameras start out being just a continuation of the pre-war models: I (850-16), II (852-16), and maybe III (853-16). While researching I found references to new Ikoflex III’s being sold after the war, but it’s not clear if those were produced after the war if they were old stock.

It makes sense that Zeiss Ikon would be happy to just get back to producing the same quality cameras it had been making before the war. The war was very destructive for most of the world. The company was located in Dresden, a city who’s fate was documented in Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five. And, after the war a portion of the company moved to the opposite side of the country – from Dresden to Stuttgart – to escape the fate of the portion. Russia requisitioned the latter’s equipment to help rebuild their own destroyed photography industry.

The real post-war models, when the company was innovating and not just rebuilding, seem to begin with the Ia and the IIa. The models with lowercase letters, and the Favorit, represent true post-war models to me.

Table Notes

1. Sometimes called Ikoflex I (when below was named Ikoflex II), also nicknamed the “coffee can”
2. Was originally named Ikoflex II with number 851-16, took over the name Ikoflex I and number 850-16 when the coffee can model was discontinued
3. Was originally named Ikoflex III, took over Ikoflex II when the coffee can model was discontinued, number stayed the same

Data from Primary Sources

The only primary sources I really have are: Zeiss brochures, dealer price lists, and camera shop advertisements. Maybe the company contributed their documents to an archive somewhere, but it would be in Germany and I won’t be traveling there soon, so I am limited to what I can find on the internet. As I looked through these sources I was noting the models available at the time. I tried to find material from various countries. It seems that models may have been selectively available by country at times. If I want to understand what was being produced, then I need to take a more wholistic view.

The table below records the year of the source, how it referenced the Ikoflex line, and the options which it stated were available. I don’t explicitly state the country of origin, mostly because I cannot say for sure. However, the prices are usually a giveaway, which is why I include them. The prices themselves are not super useful since sometimes it represents the dealer prices, but normally it represents the retail price.

Table Notes

1. Ikoflex II (851-16) was pictured

Lens Serial Numbers

All of this information comes from Jason Greenberg Motamedi’s website, he cataloged it from other sources which are no longer available. He lists serial numbers for other old large format lense manufacturers too, so if you want information on non-Zeiss lenses take a look at his site.

Pre-war: Carl Zeiss Jena Serial Numbers

Post-war: Carl Zeiss Jena, East Germany

Post-war: Carl Zeiss (Opton), Oberkochen, West Germany

References

Credits

• Cover photo: Library of Congress, call number LC-USF34-029239-D
• Pre-war models: Emanuel, Walter Daniel, Ikoflex Guide: How to Make Full Use of your Ikoflex (New York: Focal Press, 1957)

Zeiss-Ikon A. G.

Dresden

Germany

Lens:

Shutter:

Construction:

Format:

Focusing:

Zeiss Biogon 21mm F2.8 Lens

Attributes:

Identification:

Serial Number:

With:

• 5 cm Albada view-finder. Cassette. Red filter R10, screw mount, in brown case.
• Plate back adapter with three single metal slides (1 - 3).

Improved model I

1936

Zeiss-Ikon A. G.

Dresden

Germany

The Super Nettel was introduced as a cheaper alternative to the Contax I. It had a fixed lens attached to the body by bellows and scissor struts. The body itself was more streamlined than the Contax I and the whole camera was easier to use. The shutter setting/release/film advance knob was on top the camera as it would be on the Contax II introduced two years later.

Originally the camera was finished in black and nickel with a choice of two lenses both of 5 cm length, an f3.5 Tessar or f2.8 Tessar. An f3.5 Triotar was added in 1935. In 1936 the model II was introduced. This had a chrome finish and was only available with the f2.8 Tessar. The original model, then called the model I, was restricted to the f3.5 lenses. The model II had the finder extended to the front of the top plate and the accessory shoe was attached and not part of the top plate mounting.

There are a number of minor variations prior to the introduction of the model II:

Zeiss-Ikon Nettar 516/2, What Year? | Photo.net Photography ...

• The earliest had a flatter speed dial than later models.
• The film advance knob had 6 rows of knurling, later 5.
• The focusing scale was calibrated from infinity in a clockwise fashion, later it was anti-clockwise.
• The depth-of-field scale was more spread out than later and flush with the face plate, later it was on an angled bezel.
• The iris was moved by two small knobs, later only one.
• The lens hood fixing studs were on a black surround, later nickel.

All of these variations occurred before the introduction of the model II. Later black model Is used the body parts of the II, that is, they had the extended finder and attached accessory shoe. The bright parts also became chrome. The price with an f2.8 lens was £23.10.0.

The filter with this example is in a special mount for the Super Nettel allowing the case to be closed with the filter in place.

Hasselblad Flextight X1 And Imacon 848